Casing-elevator.



FRANK S. BARKELEVL 0F LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

CASIINGsELEVA'IOR.

To all whom it may concer/rb:

` Be it known that l FRANK S. lianitnnnw i 1 .7 1. l a citizen ot the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county ot Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new vand useful linprovements in Casing-Ele- ,andy does not necessarily have to be placed under a collar on the casing in order to support it. In the usual case the, .spider is placed under the.derriclruoornand is operated to grip the casing at any desired point. The elevator is then placed under the collar on lthe successive joint ot casing and the 'joint screwed into the casing supported by the spider. The spider then loosened and thev casing lowered, being caught again and held bythe spider when the top of the upper joint cornes to a convenient position above the derrielr door. The elevator is then removed by slipping over the top oi' the casing and the above operation is repeated tcplace the next joint in connection with the string already in the Well.

The present invention consists in a construction which may be put on and taken ott' the casing over the end thereof..V @n this account it is constructed with a body portion of a continuous, integral ring4 in contradistinction to the style of elevators now in use and which are necessarily made in two hinged halves with a separate and distinct bail on each half. The present construction has only one bail as the rigidA ring allows et the use of such.

As the invention consists in the before explained use of a solid ring adapted to be taken oli over the end of the casing, in coinbination with a single bail, the nieans for securing the casing in the elevator may be varied to suit the particular needs ot any individual case. rthere are differing conditions which must be inet in the construction or" a v successful elevator and these are niet in the specification of Letters raient.

Application filed December 17, 1908.

Patented May 31, 1910.

Serial No. 467,948.

ing. ln the drawings several forms are shown, one forni being` more readily adaptable to Sonie conditions than the others.

There are two distinct iforins of devices possible l'or engaging with the casing and these are those which grip the casing itself with a frictional or seini-frictional engagement; and those which depend upon the presence of a collar on the casing against which the supporting means bears. The first torni has the advantage of not injuring the collarin any way and also of not depending on thevcollar to hold the whole weight of the casing below. lt also has the distinct advantage that it can be applied to the casing at any point along its length without reference to the presence of a collar. By

this arrangement the casing can be supported at any desired elevation from a point on the derrick licor or underneath the same, this constituting a distinct advantage in drilling operations. The second torni has the advantage ot not tending vto crush the casing in any manner., the supportbeing on and under the casing collar. rlhis torni is the easier to apply and to remove from the casing and also has the advantage of extreme siinplicity. ln this forni a locl has been applied to the catch mechanism to hold it against ijlisengagenient from the casing except when Y such disengagement is desired and is effected by manual n'ieans. v

ln pursuance of the above outlined plan of the invention there are three distinct forms ot'supporting devices illustrated in theaccoinpanying drawings, in which:-

Figure l is a vertical section of one forni of the complete elevator with the casing therein. Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross section taken on. line 2 2 oi Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view ot' a second forni of the complete elevator. Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on line .L-fl of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view of a third forni of the invention.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, 5 designates the body portion or ring ot' the elevator illustrated around casing 6 beneath collar 7. Ring 5 is formed with its internal opening 8 of sufficiently large diameter to easily slip over the collar ot the casing, a bearing portion 9 being formed on one side with a radius corresponding to the radius of the casing so that a line of support of some length is provided under the collar. The center of this bearing portion is preferably `non-coincident. AWith-the vcenter of the ring;

but this is not essential; bei-ng only .for etiiciency of design. l f/ On the outside of the 'ring and opposite the bearing portion 9 a bracket 10 is ormed.

"lo lthis bracket a vcatch member 1L is pivoted at l2, the member extending inwardly to yagainst the leasing. As `illus- 1 the collar rests upon bearing The catch member may be in the drawings. It will be seenpthat it is impossible to '.Vmove the catch member upwardly and outwardly so to d'isengage the casing while the collar rests on the member. IThere are times, however, when the casing is supported temporarily by other means, such as the sticking of the lower parts in the well, and

it is evident that if the elevator were then` moved downwardly on the casing there would be a frictional tendency to raise the been added, to the catch'member.

l as not truly cylindrical easy placement in the elevating hook, and

Vgageinent with the catchl member. ATo prevent this a Bracket 10 is extended above the top of the catch member as at 13 and the 'outer endof pivoted lock member 14 rests against it. rlhe lock member is pivoted at 15 to the catoliineinber and is provided with a handle, 16. An upward pull on the handle will first move the end ofthe vlockv member out of enportion 13 of the bracket. A further pull will move the catch member upwardly and outwardly to disengage the casing which.' may then be slipped out of the 'elevator through lthe large opening in the In Fi g. l the. aperture in thc ring is shown throughout its whole length. The bottom portion is flared out `wardly in a sort -of conical configurationv so that the casing may placed in the ring or the ring placed over ythe end of the easing. bottom of the ring does not materially rethe-fmore easily ybe The flaring at the duce the strength of the elevator' us'the greatest stress, and thereforethe greatest rcquired strength, isat the top of the ring.,

In this case the making of the ring ashea'vy at the bottoni' as at fthe topwouldibe a incre waste of material and would increase lthe weight of the elevatoi' without correspondingly increasing its strength.` l

A single lail 17 is secured to trunnions 18 on each side' of'the. ring and` extends npwardly to a sutlcient height to allow of also that the hook mayA clear the top ol'uthe casing collar when in its upright position.

'lhe trunnions are of such diameter that With Aa circular inner end which side and on catch member the requisite point lock has.

ward motion.

their shearing strength is approximatel equal to the tensile strength of the bail. t is desirable to have the trunnions slightly above the center of the ring as the elevator then hangs normallyvin' its correct uprightA position.`

normal position as only slightly below the point of support.

In Figs. 3 and 4 a second form of the el'e vater is shown in which there is provision for the gripping of the casing at points other than directly beneath the collars. The ad2 vantages of this particularforinhave been' set forth hereinafter, the .particular uses of the same will be set forth after the following description of the mechanism thereof. In this forni the ring is constructed in a slightly different configuration from that of the first `form described, a pocket 2O being formed therein for .the reception of a slip or jaw 21 laced on a downwardly and inwardly sloping incline so that the weight of the casing upon the slip tends to tig iten the grip of the elevator upon it. Bearing portion 9 and the inner surface of the slip are both provided with teeth or other seri-ations or roughening to afford 'a thorough grip upon the casing. i In Fig. 5 a third form of the elevator is shown, this foi-in being a modification of the forni shown in Fig. 3. In this last form the At the same time, no largeeifort ,is required to turn the elevator out of'its the -center of gravity is ring is made in a forni differing from either of the onesv described for the purpose of atlirding a franie'for a plurality of' slips or jaws 21. These may be of any desired number, it bei-ng convenient for purposes of design to employ four las illustrated. In

this forni the gripping surfaces are 'all loosel and free. to move with the casing and to consequently grip it on account of their in- In theforin of Fig. 3' there is one. movable gripping surface and one which is stationary. It is `conceivable that` the forni 'of Fig. "5 may be adapted-to have one or more of its gripping surfaces sta.- tionary. or that the form of Fig. 3 may be provided withl a pair of in ovable jaws, 'lhese variations are cited for the urpose ot' showing some of the yforms which the present invention may take. lhe peculiar andi-hief advantage'of this elevator is seen to reside in the construction ofthe ring or bodyY member in a single piece, in combination with a single bail. 'l`hechief point of weakness in the elevators heretofore in nso has been the jointed and hinged ring. To make these points of weaknessl sutlieiently strong to stand the severe usefto which they are subjeetedit isv iio The `use ofthe single -bail is also of great utility as it allows of easier handling in the derrick. In the old Construction it is necessary to put the two bails in their upright lhoisting apparatus.

l 'former diihculty of handling being thus ob- 15 viated.

'In theuse of this elevator, as before exglained, a spider is used on or below the ,screwed together.

errick floor, this spider being of such constructionas to grip the casing at any point along itsy length and to thus support it at vany desired point. One orthe other of the forms of the elevator 4is then used to raise and lowerthecasing, the spider being re leased when the elevator is supporting the casing. In the typical operation of placing the casngin the well, the elevator is placed over the'end of a len .h of the casing which is then hoisteddnto t e derrick. The lower end is placed "in register with the casing already in the well and the two portions In this relation the pres ent elevator has a eat" advantage over the onesl now used. en the joint is being screwed into the casing in the well, the old elevators are liable to turn with the casing. When this takes place the unbalanced weight of the elevator causes the casing to gyrate instead of yremaining Vertical. This causes the threads of the two portions to cross each other and it is thus impossible to' form a good joint. It then becomes necessary to remove the elevator and to steady the joint by hand, the removal only being accompli'shed after some work in unfastening the catch and in swinging the halves of the elevater away from t e1 casing. With the present form itis only necessary to lower the elevator slightly and to loosen the catch when it may be removed by hoisting In the majority of cases it is not necessary to remove the present forni as, when the catch is released, the size of the aperture. through the ring is sufficient to allow the casing to turnv without turning the elevator with it.

In the use of the form shown in the last figures it is not necessary that the casing be engaged at a point directly below the collar. Thus the casing may be held at any point while the other operations are carried on and it is possible to dispense with the spider entirely. ln this ease either two oi [he last forms may be used or one ofthe first and one of the last, just as conditions may require.

From the foregoing it will be manifest that the gist of this invention consists in 'the employment of a ring which vis put on the casing by slipping over the end, in combination with a mechanism for gripping the casing at some point, either directly below the collar or at any point along its length.

The :minor details of construction, as to the particular means for engaging the casing, may be varied at will to suit the requirements without departing from the spirit and scope ofthis invention.

Having described my invent-ion, what I `claim is vl. A casing elevator, comprising a solid ring having an internal diameter larger than the external diameter of the casing collar, a catch member pivoted to one side of the ring at the top thereof .and projecting inwardly into the internal opening of the ring, and locking means to prevent the displacement of the catch member.

2. A casing elevator, comprising a ring adapted tor surround the casing, a catch member pivoted to one side of the ring at the top thereof and projecting inwardly into Ithe internal opening of the ring, and

locking means to prevent the displacement end of the ring at the other side thereof and adapted to swin downwardly and in-` wardly into the interior opening of the ring to supply a bearing surface opposite, the first named surface, a lock member mounted on the catch member, and a lug on the ring with which the lock member is adapted to enga e.

` fi. A casing e evator, comprising a ring adapted to surround the casing, a bearing sur ace on one side of the interior upper edge of the ring, a catch member pivoted to the up er end of the ring at the other side thereoi' and adapted to swing downwardly and inwardly vinto the interior o ening of the ring to supply a bearing sur ace opposite the first named surface, a. lock member pivoted to the catch member, a lug on the ring adapted to engageA the end of the lock member when the catch member is down, and a handle attached to the lug engaging end of the lock member.

5. A casinor elevator, comprising a solid ring adapted;y to surround the casingT and having a bearing surface on one side at its top for engagement with the easingvcollar, a catch member mounted on the other side thereof and projecting into the internal opening of the ring, its-inner end forming a bearing for the casing collar on the side opposite that supported by the bearing surrace on the ring, and lock means for securing the catch member in place against the casing.

6. A casing elevator, comprising a. solid lring having an internal circular opening of larger diameter than the casing collar, a bearing surface formed on one 'side of the 5 internal opening and on a radius approximatel equal to that of the casing, the center o the bearing surface being non-coinident with the center of the internal openmg, a catch member pivoted to the-ring on 1o the side opposite the bearing surface and projecting mwardly into4 the lnternal openmg of the rin and locking means to hold the catch mem er against the casing.

7. A casing elevator, comprising a solid 15 ring having an internal circular opening of "larger diametel" than the casing collar, a

bearing Surface formed on one side of the 'internal opening and on a radius a proxiv mately equalnto that of the casing, t e center of the bearing. surface bein-g non-coin- 20 'cdent with thecenter of the internal opening, a catch m'ember pivoted to the ring on the eideppposite the bearing surface and projecting'inwardly into the internal opening of the ring, a locking member'pivoted 2'5 to the catch member, a handle on the lockf ing member; an abutment on the ring with which the locking member is. adapted to engage, trunnions formed integrally with the rino* and a bail pivot-ally mounted on 33 o7 the `trunnlons. 

